Pirate Party Australia has seized upon questions presented by Senator Scott Ludlam to Attorney-General George Brandis during Senate Estimates regarding the Federal Government’s copyright policy and proposals to curb online copyright infringement[1]. The Attorney-General’s responses display Brandis’ inability to properly answer questions on the matter, and suggest that he and his department are solely interested in consulting with industry and copyright holders when forming policy.

The Attorney-General was unable to confirm whether he had consulted with consumer and public interest groups on proposals to introduce a graduated response (“three strikes”) scheme to target file-sharing. Graduated response regimes have been implemented overseas and result in fines and disconnections for those alleged to have infringed copyright online. There is limited evidence to suggest these regimes are effective.

“The vague responses and misdirection by Senator Brandis confirm that the process of developing an anti-infringement strategy is being hidden from the Australian public, and further to that offer no confirmation as to whether there has even been any consultation with consumer groups,” said Simon Frew, President of Pirate Party Australia.

“Senator Brandis’ personal opinion regarding the matter is in line with those presented by the Australian Screen Association and other industry representatives. His attitude when answering questions during Senate Estimates suggests that he believes industry interests are the same as consumer and public interests, despite being unable to confirm or deny he had even spoken with consumer groups.”

Investigative work by ZDNet has produced emails between the Attorney-General’s Department and Neil Gane, Managing Director of the Australian Screen Association, formerly known as the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT). The emails suggest that Mr Gane has had privileged access to Departmental staff which has been used to lobby in favour of measures such as a graduated response scheme and the blocking of websites[2].

“The influence of the copyright industry, in particular organisations such as the Australian Screen Association, over the direction of policy[3] is concerning but unsurprising considering the amount of money and support flowing from members of this industry to the Liberal Party,” Mr Frew continued. “Village Roadshow donated more than $300,000 to the Liberal Party in the previous financial year[4] and the relentless campaigning for the Coalition from the Murdoch-owned press in the lead up to the election show that the Coalition is beholden to ‘old media’ companies such as Foxtel and major US movie studios.”

“The Attorney-General’s approach is yet another example of the Coalition being a government of luddites, protecting the industries of yesterday at the cost of innovation. A graduated response scheme will be ineffective, as will be censorship. Both regimes have been tried in multiple countries and have been demonstrated to fail[5]. The proposals being put forward here are likewise doomed. If the industry wants to reduce piracy, they need to make content accessible, convenient and affordable in a timely fashion, not attacking users with backward and draconian laws,” Mr Frew concluded.

The Pirate Party is committed to pushing for copyright reform in Australia so that the law reflects a changing society, allowing fair access and use of material while supporting rights holders and creators. Earlier this month Pirate Party Australia launched a petition calling for the Senate to oppose legislation that would introduce a graduated response scheme or Internet filtering. The petition is available at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/stop-blaming-consumers-for-the-outdated-business-models-of-the-media-industry

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emFiktDpdAk
[2] http://www.zdnet.com/au/australian-government-considers-graduated-response-to-piracy-7000029968/
[3] http://www.zdnet.com/film-lobby-emails-detail-persistence-for-copyright-crackdown-7000028324/
[4] http://www.zdnet.com/film-studios-outspend-tech-companies-in-political-donations-7000025866/
[5] http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2322516